Borderless

Reviewed by Marcy Campos

Review Source: Teaching for Change
Book Author: Jennifer De Leon

Borderless is an excellent novel for high school students and teachers that sheds light on the push factors that lead Central Americans to face the agonizing decision to leave their home country, and it explores the perilous journey and the horrific treatment by U.S. immigration. The story is told through the life of 17-year-old Maya Silva in Guatemala City. Maya attends a private school that focuses on fashion design. Her particular approach is termed “trashion,” the use of unusual objects and materials to create fashionable clothing. Maya has a scholarship to the school and her mom, Carmen, fully supports her by working extra jobs to cover any additional costs. But her mom is also very worried about the growing crime and gang issue in their neighborhood and the city overall because she has seen first-hand how it affects people all around them. Her father was robbed and killed when Carmen was six months pregnant. More recently, one of their neighbors was murdered and a classmate was kidnapped and held for ransom.

The reader gets a keen sense of Carmen’s anxiety and the stress of securing a safer environment for her and her daughter, including possible relocation to another town. Maya feels for her mother but is not internalizing that worry. She is contending for one of ten finalist spots in the school’s fashion contest and is focused on creating three unique pieces of clothing to compete.

But when her best friend Lisbeth hooks up with a young man, Oscar, she has a bad feeling because she feels a “sketchy vibe” from him. Nonetheless, she hangs out with them. She meets and develops an interest in his cousin Sebastian,  an artist who was just deported from Los Angeles.

Maya struggles to navigate her mom’s expectations and fears, friendships, and a budding relationship. The story evolves with a good portion focused on school-related fashion preparation and another portion on the growing unease about Oscar and gangs. Eventually she witnesses a violent situation which puts her in grave danger and some big decisions need to be made.

Despite winning the contest, Maya and her mother have to flee the country. Another layer of this story is how they go about finding a coyote who can help them cross from Guatemala through Mexico into the United States. The narrative of this experience captures what we have read about in the news — the treacherous journey by car and on foot crossing the Rio Grande, being held in the “hieleras” when captured, asylum interviews, and family separation. Maya is transported to the Humanitarian Respite Center without her mother. It is a relief to be in a center run by kind volunteers and religious people. However, she faces the agonizing decision of whether to return to Guatemala to reunite with her mother who was likely deported, or continue on her journey to New York.

A child of Guatemalan immigrants herself, author Jennifer De Leon powerfully captures these heavy emotional moments, decisions, and choices along the way.

It is important for readers to know that the U.S. government had a role in creating the push factors described in the book. In the mid-20th century, Guatemala had two reform-minded elected leaders (Juan José Arévalo and Jacobo Árbenz) who tried to shape a more just trajectory for the country with equitable access to healthcare, farmland, clean water, and education. Arévalo was thwarted and Árbenz was overthrown — with the U.S. CIA playing a major role. Cold War rhetoric provided cover for protection of U.S. corporate interests profiting from continued poverty in Guatemala. These elected leaders were replaced by decades of brutal military dictatorships. In addition, U.S.-fueled climate change has undermined the viability of many small farmers in Guatemala. Teachers can supplement the book with this historical context about the roots of violence and poverty in Guatemala.

Teachers can also encourage students to follow the news of the recent change in leadership in Guatemala. Arévalo’s son, Bernardo Arévalo, became president in 2024 thanks to dedicated organizing by Guatemala’s Indigenous population. If supported and sustained, Arévalo’s administration could provide young people in Guatemala real choices for their future — where fleeing north is not the only chance for survival.

I recommend Borderless for any teacher looking for a story that addresses the pressure of gangs among peers and the experience of crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. While written for high school students, it is also engaging and informative for adults. Borderless would be a strong asset to any library or classroom. I look forward to De Leon’s upcoming children’s picture books — So Many Gifts, and a biography of Nobel Peace Prize winner, Rigoberta Menchú.

Marcy Campos is a volunteer with the Teaching Central America campaign. She has worked in Central and South America on participatory evaluation projects, the development of women’s leadership, and strengthening community-based organizations. She was on staff at the National Council of La Raza (now UnidosUS) and American University where she headed the Center for Community Engagement & Service and teaches a class called “The Latino Community of the D.C. Metro Area.”

---

Borderless by Jennifer De Leon
Published by Simon and Schuster on March 26, 2024
Genres: Central America, Immigration and Emigration
Pages: 352
Reading Level: High School
ISBN: 9781665904179
Review Source: Teaching for Change

Publisher's Synopsis: Caught in the crosshairs of gang violence, a teen girl and her mother set off on a perilous journey from Guatemala City to the US border in this “engrossing” (Kirkus Reviews) young adult novel from the author of Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From

For seventeen-year-old Maya, trashion is her passion, and her talent for making clothing out of unusual objects landed her a scholarship to Guatemala City’s most prestigious design school and a finalist spot in the school’s fashion show. Mamá is her biggest supporter, taking on extra jobs to pay for what the scholarship doesn’t cover, and she might be even more excited than Maya about what the fashion show could do for her future career.

So when Mamá doesn’t come to the show, Maya doesn’t know what to think. But the truth is worse than she could have imagined. The gang threats in their neighborhood have walked in their front door—with a boy Maya considered a friend, or maybe even more, among them. After barely making their escape, Maya and her mom have no choice but to continue their desperate flight all the way through Guatemala and Mexico in hopes of crossing the US border.

They have to cross. They must cross! Can they?